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While the timescape of Looking Out II is the always-now of
the live video feed, the postcard images of Wish You Were (not) Here
depict the same geography, but on a plane of time which is below or
above the present. They are faked snapshots from a pre-industrial
or post-apocalyptic America, with all signs of human activity erased.
Past or future, they are souvenirs from the gates of Eden on the
morning of the fifth day, or after the expulsion. Like a National
Geographic physical terrain map or a Sierra Club calendar, they
show the world without human impact; but the technology of their
facture implicates the meddling creative mind, ruining the illusion.